


Dreamscape

by AestheticAcoustic



Category: South Park
Genre: Anal Fingering, Centaur anatomy, Dream Sex, Falling In Love, Fantasy, M/M, Mystery, Red String of Fate, Supernatural Elements, Telekinesis, mermaid anatomy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-19 05:21:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29745606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AestheticAcoustic/pseuds/AestheticAcoustic
Summary: Damien meets Pip in what he believes is a dream. Strangely, Pip is the one in control of this dream world. Each night Damien falls back in and he begins to think maybe this is more real than he initially believed. These thoughts are cemented when he finds out the very boy he spends each night with used to go to South Park High. Using wit and fists, Damien aims to find out what happened to Pip, where he went, and why everyone seems so hush hush about it.
Relationships: Kenny McCormick/Leopold "Butters" Stotch, Philip "Pip" Pirrip/Damien Thorn
Comments: 2
Kudos: 24





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> A very wonderful person reached out to me on Tumblr about enjoying my DIP fanfics. I realized I never posted this one here, only on FF.net which I don't use anymore. I did some editing on it, but surprisingly it isn't too bad despite being written probably ten years ago. Hope you enjoy! 
> 
> I considered posting another one I'd written too, but it's over ten years old and is too cringe to save.

The first thing Damien saw was green. An entire lush, green, and vibrant forest lay before him, above him, all around him. He sat up, his palms squishing slightly into the soft grass below him. Above the forest was a cloudless blue sky and he could hear and feel wind running through the trees. There were no sounds of birds chirping though, making it seem eerily silent.

Where the fuck was he?

The last thing he remembered was… going to bed.

Ah, he must have been dreaming. He tended to be a very lucid dreamer, meaning he was often aware that he was dreaming and could take control of it. Very handy, especially for taking control over nightmares and pushing them toward something more pleasant.

He stood with little effort and went to brush himself off, only to realize he was nude.

Ugh. One of _those_ sort of dreams. Okay.

He concentrated, attempting to grant himself some clothes, but it didn’t seem to work. He tried again, but to no avail.

Um…? What the fuck? That always worked…

He grumbled and decided to just ignore it for now. This was a dream anyway, so what did it matter? There was no one to see him and even if they did he had no reason to be ashamed. He was fit thanks to a weightlifting class he’d taken for the easy grade, and had stayed that way by lifting weights over the summer. 

Also, none of the people in the dream were real, but hey even if they were he couldn’t be ashamed.

He began walking, stepping carefully through the thick brush. He could feel the soft grass and rough leaves and even the cool wind on his skin. He stepped on a stick and hissed slightly at the dull pain that quickly ebbed away as he kept moving.

Very strange for a dream.

He eventually found a stream, though he wasn’t sure what good _that_ would do him. It wasn’t like he was going to dehydrate. He tried again to concentrate and make some clothes, if for no other reason than he believed he could, but it again failed.

What the fuck??

“Who’re you?”

Damien nearly jumped out of his skin when someone spoke. He whirled around, fists raised, and saw a blonde girl –no, boy– standing near the water. He was wearing some sort of white tunic, maybe, that hung off one shoulder. His blue eyes ran down Damien’s body and a confused expression made its way onto his thin face. “Why are you naked?” Was that a British accent?

“Your guess is as good as mine!” Damien retorted, gesturing to himself, “I just woke up like this!”

“Oh. How strange.” The blonde cocked his head, making his hair sway.

“Yeah, no sh-” His body felt tingly, making him look down. A tunic appeared, clothing his body and making his eyes widen, “What the fuck?”

“Sorry.” The boy apologized, “It was just a little distracting, was all.” He chuckled, smiling a weirdly hollow smile, “I’ve never seen another person here before. How’d you get here?”

“I don’t even know where _here_ is.” Damien confessed, messing with his tunic. It felt light and almost like satin, but it didn’t _look_ like satin. He didn’t care much for it, in all honesty. He’d rather have his usual ripped up jeans and form-fitting shirts.

The blonde looked around and hummed, “Yeah, I guess I don’t either…” He shrugged, seemingly uncaring. 

“How long you been here?”

“As long as I can remember.”

“Right, right…” He looked at him again, “So this _is_ a dream then.”

“Hm…” The boy smiled and shrugged, “Who knows.”

“Right…” Clearly, this was a dream and this boy was just a dream boy that he’d probably get around to sleeping with later. That was usually how this sort of thing worked. Not that he minded, of course. Any excuse to get laid was a good excuse.

Still though. Why couldn’t he seem to change things with his mind? That always worked in lucid dreaming. Here though he couldn’t do a damn thing.

“Can you change my clothes?” He asked, “I was thinking something more… black.”

“Um, okay…”

Damien felt the familiar tingling again, but was disappointed when his tunic merely turned black. “Seriously?”

“Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“Sure, whatever. Good enough.” He didn’t care to be picky. He was in the middle of a dream jungle with a dream boy. Who cared what he was wearing? “So, what’s your name?” He asked Pip, smirking slightly.

The blonde looked mildly confused, then shrugged, “Dunno.”

“You don’t know your own name?”

“Well, it’s not like I need to. I’m the only one here.” He smiled, “But, ‘Pip’ seems familiar. Call me Pip.”

“Alrighty, _Pip_.” Dream boy was weird, “I’m Damien.” He held out his hand for him to take.

Pip hesitated, seemingly confused, but eventually held his hand out as well, which Damien was quick to take and give a brisk shake. It was small and soft, not really like a man’s at all. Damien figured he could easily break it if he squeezed hard enough. Not that he minded much though. He preferred slightly effeminate men. They were easier to toss around in the bedroom.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Pip continued, smiling sweetly, though there was still something creepily hollow about it. He seemed painfully innocent, which Damien sort of liked. 

“Same to you. Lovin’ the accent.” He smirked and lifted Pip’s hand to his lips, kissing his knuckles.

“Oh, um, thank you.” His lightly freckled cheeks turned pink as he giggled. Damien placed slow kisses up his arm, drawing nervous laughter from him. “What’re you doing?”

He ignored him and nipped his neck, making him gasp. He was quick to wrap his arms around his middle and yank him against his body. It felt good to have another body against his own. Their lips collided in a sloppy kiss just as Pip’s hands gripped his tunic. He growled and slipped one hand under the loose skirt, groping Pip’s ass. It was warm and soft and he was quick to slip two fingers between his cheeks to prod his entrance.

Pip gasped and pushed him, breaking the kiss. “What’re you doing??”

“I’m gonna fuck you.” Damien smirked, grinding his hips against his.

“Fuck me? That doesn’t sound pleasant at all.” Those blue eyes were gazing into his own, wide and innocent. It was clear he had no understanding of the words.

“Don’t worry. It’ll rock your world.” He moved in for another kiss, but suddenly the other body was simply gone. He was incredibly confused for several seconds, until the familiar voice spoke from behind him.

“I’d rather just do something else.”

He turned around and found Pip standing a few feet away by the river. Pip smiled, “Do you like adventures?? I’ve always wanted to go on an adventure with someone.”

“I like sexual adventures.” Damien smirked, putting his hands on his hips. 

“Well, I don’t know what that means.” Pip continued, empty smile unwavering, “But, I think it would be fun to go exploring.”

“Tch, are yo-” He stopped mid-sentence.

A faint noise. It was muffled and seemed distant, but the more he concentrated the more he could understand. Other voices?

“I thought you said you’d never seen anyone else?”

“I haven’t.” Pip shifted his stance, “That’s The Noise. I don’t know what it is or where it comes from. It’s the only thing I can’t change around here. But, I like listening to it, even if I don’t know what it’s talking about. Sometimes there’s music too! I really like that.”

Damien looked at him strangely, then tilted his head to listen.

_“Zoinks! Let’s get outta here, Scoob!”_

“Is that… Scooby-Doo?”

Pip shrugged, “I don’t know what that is. The Noise changes all the time. Except sometimes it repeats whole sections of dialogue.”

“So, like… commercials? Reruns?”

Another shrug. Pip quickly trotted over to him and grabbed his hand, “I don’t want to talk about it. Let me show you something.” The environment shifted and a loud roar covered The Noise.

A cave behind a waterfall. The walls dripped and the air smelled damp thanks to the high humidity. The ground and walls were uneven and made of some sort of smoothish stone. The cave seemed to go on forever one way, the opposite way ending in a rush of water.

“Isn’t it pretty?” Pip asked, pulling him along, “I love it back here. There’s even cave paintings!” He pointed to dark marks on the wall. They looked like stick figures of people chasing other stick figures of animals, like deer and elephants.

“Damn… Pretty amazing.” Damien noted. It was difficult to tell himself that this was just a dream, that all this wasn’t real, that he shouldn’t be so impressed. It was tough _not_ to be though. It all felt so real. He could feel the mist coming off the waterfall behind him, the dampness of the stone beneath his feet, the cool humidity in the air. Wow.

“Yeah. Come on, there’s more.” He laced their fingers as they walked, smiling vacantly. Though the smile was beautiful, something about it was still a little creepy.

Damien noted with some confusion that it was not getting darker, despite the fact that they were heading deeper into the cave. There seemed to be light that existed and came from nowhere. Definitely a dream then. This would never make sense in real life.

“Look.” Pip pointed to the walls again, “Aren’t they beautiful?”

Gems. Blue gems, red gems, green, yellow, purple, a rainbow of colors glimmered from the walls. Some were crystal clear and smooth, others more cloudy and covered in thin layers of rocks. There were small specks of some of them and others long streaks that covered half the wall. They were breath-taking. They shined brightly, despite the lack of light.

“Holy _shit_.” Damien spoke, “What is this place?”

“I call it the Rainbow Room. It’s one of my favorite places.” Pip spun slowly, taking in the sights.

“One of? There’s shit that rivals this?”

“Mhm.” Pip nodded, stopping to face him.

Another shift. 

Outside again, sunlight, trees, the roar of the waterfall. They were overlooking it this time and it was _massive_. Niagara falls couldn’t possibly have been as large as this. Looking down it made his head spin. How far was that? A few hundred feet? The ground looked tiny from here.

“I call this Rainbow Falls because the water makes a rainbow. I promise I haven’t named everything rainbow, it just seemed to fit.” Pip said, gripping his hand again.

“Jesus…” He looked down the falls, wondering what it would be like to jump. It seemed scary, but why should it be? This was a dream, right? “Dude, we should jump down this.”

“What??” Pip gasped, looking at him like he was nuts, “But, that’s dangerous.”

“This is just a dream, remember?” That’s right. This was a dream. None of it was real, including Pip. Why did that realization make his heart sink? It was so annoying how quickly one could get attached to dream people.

“Um…” He looked at him skeptically, “Well, um… I guess it wouldn’t hurt, since I can control most everything.”

“Sure, okay. Let’s go then! We’ll jump together.” He nodded toward the falls and Pip hesitated, but nodded his head. “Great!” Damien smirked, “Just keep a tight grip. We’ll be fine.”

“Okay…” He didn’t seem sure, but Damien ignored it. 

It was just a dream.

He gripped his hand tighter and stepped to the edge. Pip whined softly and hugged his arm, but it didn’t faze him. 

It was just a dream.

They stepped off and Damien gasped at the rush as they fell. Water hit him hard, but it wasn’t painful. It was a rush. He kept hold of Pip’s hand all the way to the bottom, which took forever to reach. When they finally hit the bottom they shot under the water, but Damien found he was not suffocating.

It was just a dream.

He had to release Pip’s hand to swim to the surface. He breached and took a deep breath despite not needing it. He heard Pip surface next to him not a second later and begin laughing.

“That _was_ fun!” 

“Yeah!” Damien grabbed his arm and pulled him over. He wrapped his arms around Pip’s smaller waist and held him close. 

Skin on skin. They were naked.

Pip giggled, wrapping his arms around Damien’s neck, “You’re a lot of fun. I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m pleased to be here.” Damien smirked. He brushed their lips together and groped Pip’s ass again, earning a small squeak. 

Pip blushed, “Oh, are you still interested in that earlier thing?”

“ _Very_.” Damien purred. He was _not_ going to wake up without getting some.

“Um, okay.” Pip giggled nervously, “I, uh, guess I can let you show me what that’s about. It won’t hurt, right?”

“Not at all.” He pressed their lips together in another deep kiss, holding Pip tight.

Yes! He was going to get some! He couldn’t wait to find out what this boy would be like. Would he be loud? Quiet? Could he make him beg, or would Pip be too shy for such things?

A loud, obnoxious buzzing forced him from his thoughts. He cringed and broke the kiss, looking around. “What the fuck is that noise??”

Pip tilted his head, “What noise?”

“Gah, it’s loud… I think it might be an-”

Damien jolted when he awoke. His alarm clock blared annoyingly beside him, alerting him of the time.

God.

Fucking.

Damnit.

He snarled and slammed his fist down on the off button, then sat up, fuming. His erection stood proudly under the blankets, creating a tent over his abdomen. 

He’d been so close! Literally moments away from sinking his dick into that tight ass!

Nothing he could do about it now though. It was impossible to lie back down and fall asleep into the same dream again. Even if he could, he’d hate for the alarm to go off again before he finished.

He kicked his blankets off and stumbled out of bed. His clothes were a messy pile on the floor, but he didn’t really care. He yanked on the same shirt and pants he’d worn the previous day and headed to the bathroom first. He needed a cold shower.

Several minutes later he ended up in the kitchen, where he poured himself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the kitchen table. His parents were already gone, thankfully, so he got the house to himself to pout.

Today would mark his first day at South Park High. They’d moved down here over the weekend from Denver because his parents thought it would be good to get out of the city. He hadn’t wanted to leave though. Small towns sucked. So did starting at a whole new school with no friends and a bunch of classes he didn’t even care about.

Ugh. His parents were total assholes.

But, this was his last year. He’d turned 18 over the summer and soon he’d be able to graduate and move out on his own. He couldn’t wait. He was moving right back to the big city, getting his own apartment, and beginning work on getting his tattooing license. He loved tats, even had several of his own, and looked forward to doing what he enjoyed for a living. He was going to find himself a sexy blonde boyfriend too that he could mess around with every night.

He thoughts wandered back to dream boy, Pip. Pip had been pretty fucking attractive. He’d love to find himself a guy like him. Oddly enough, thinking about Pip made him a little sad. He wasn’t real, so he’d never see him again, which totally sucked because they’d had a great time. He’d been _that_ close to fucking him on the grass too.

Ugh. So close.

\----------

The building wasn’t anything fancy. It was rather dull actually, and very small in his opinion. It was very different from Denver. He didn’t like it.

He avoided people like the plague, but ended up becoming interested in a few students. He liked a blonde girl, Bebe, and a dark haired girl, Wendy, because they seemed pretty intelligent and knew how to stand up for themselves. There was also a cute blonde boy that Damien was highly interested in trying to sleep with, but a taller blonde guy was always around him and it seemed like _maybe_ they were together. It was hard to tell. He would have to do more investigating. 

At lunch he settled in at a table with Token and his group; calm guy, twitchy guy, slow guy, and Bebe. Slow guy -Clyde?- seemed kind of loud and whiny, so he didn’t care much for him. Calm guy and twitchy guy –Craig? Tweek?- were sitting awful close for friends. He would have considered trying to sleep with twitchy, seeing as he had a strong preference for blondes, but calm guy didn’t seem like he’d allow that. Bebe had her time split between their little group and another group. She’d talk to them awhile, then lean over to an adjacent table to talk to Wendy, who was sitting with nerd guy, jock guy, fatass, and the two blondes.

Maybe blonde and blondie would be interested in a three way…

He rather liked blondie. He reminded him of Pip; sweet and innocent. That was kind of a weird thought though. Maybe he shouldn’t compare real people to dream people.

After lunch he headed down the hall toward his next class, but halted when he saw blondie at his locker, taller blonde nowhere in sight. He grinned and headed over to him, deciding to take advantage of this rare opportunity.

His hand collided with the lockers beside blondie’s head, making him gasp and spin around. He seemed frightened at first, but it quickly ebbed away into curiosity. Those blue eyes sparkled and a soft pair of lips formed a curious pout.

Damien gave him a charming smirk, “Afternoon. I’m Damien Thorn. You are?”

“Uh, Butters.” He said, smiling, “It’s nice to meet you. Is it your first day?”

“Yup.” His eyes fell on Butters arms, which were hugging a large book tightly. He noted a thin red string tied in a bow around his left little finger. “What’s that for? So you won’t forget?”

“Oh, uh, no.” He shook his head, blushing, “If I told you, you’d laugh.”

“Nah.” Damien grinned, “You’re too cute for me to do something as mean as that.”

“Oh!” Butters giggled, “T-Thanks. That’s what Kenny always says too.”

Well, shit.

“Oh, does he? He your boyfriend?”

Butters didn’t answer, merely smiled brighter at a spot over his shoulder. Damien turned around and came face to face with taller blonde, who didn’t look amused. His brown eyes stared harshly into Damien’s, making his annoyance apparent. “Yes.” The other male answered for him, eyes narrowed, “Who’re you?”

“Damien.” He answered quickly, extending his hand, “My apologies.”

Taller blonde stared at the hand a moment before taking it and shaking, “Forgiven. I’m Kenny.” He let go and stepped past Damien to put his arm around Butters’ shoulders. The two smiled at one another and Damien knew he had no chance in Hell of getting with either.

He noted that Kenny too had the red string tied around his left little finger. He pointed to it, “What’s that for?”

Butters seemed to forget his earlier weariness and answered happily, “It means we’re soul mates!”

“Oh.” Damien said simply, “Neat.” He didn’t get it, but maybe it was a small-town thing. All it meant to him was that a three-way was obviously out of the question.

Time to find another tree to bark up.

\----------

He collapsed on the couch after getting home and merely laid there for several seconds, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t care for the school, but at least it wasn’t over crowded. The classes hadn’t been too hard and the other kids were surprisingly friendly. He supposed he could tolerate living here, at least for this last year.

“Damien.” He heard his father’s voice, “Come help me.”

He groaned and got up, leaving his backpack on the couch. He headed toward his father’s voice and found him in the garage with several boxes.

“Help me finish unpacking.” Mr. Thorn instructed.

Damien grumbled quietly and did as he was told. He wasn’t that he hated his father, they were just different people. Mr. Thorn liked order and obedience and following laws and all that jazz, whereas Damien tended to be a little looser with his morals. His father had protested his tattoos, but once Damien had turned 18 there was nothing stopping him from getting them, which he knew his father didn’t approve of.

He only had two so far. A pair of black and red devil wings on his shoulder blades and a steampunk style skull on his left shoulder. He already had sketches and plans for several more too. He had to save up first though, since tats were pretty expensive, though well worth it.

He helped his dad move items into a previously empty room which they made plans to turn into a sort of family gaming room, mostly at his mother’s request. She liked for them to hang out together as much as possible when she was home. He loved his parents, but he didn’t _like_ them. Not that they were bad people, he just didn’t get along with them. His father was an auto technician and his mother a lawyer, so both tended to work long hours, meaning he, thankfully, didn’t see them much.

They were done by the time his mother got home. His parents started dinner while he worked on a few pages of homework. He tried to avoid much conversation at the table during dinner, but they eventually forced him to talk about school. After dinner he excused himself and took a shower before retreating to his room.

He collapsed on the bed and shut his eyes, relaxing.

God, he was tired. The entire day had been exhausting. It was still a few hours until the sun would set, but he was tempted to just go to sleep now. Then it would be like sleeping in tomorrow, even if he had to get up early.

Yeah, that seemed like a good idea.

He undressed and climbed under the covers. He briefly wondered if he’d be lucky enough to fall into the same dream. That happened sometimes with reoccurring dreams. He quickly dismissed the thought though. There was no way he’d be that lucky.


	2. Home

The first thing Damien saw was green. An entire lush, green, and vibrant forest lay before him, above him, all around him. He sat up, his palms squishing slightly into the soft grass below him. Above the forest was a cloudless blue sky and he could hear and feel wind running through the trees. There were no sounds of birds chirping though, making it seem eerily silent.

Holy shit.

He quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around, barely noting that he was wearing the black tunic again.

How had he gotten back here?? He was so sure he’d never wake here again. It looked just the same though. He could even hear the faint voices of The Noise.

_“Six were killed in a collision today on icy roads.”_

It was muffled, making it a little hard to make out completely what was being said, but he was positive that _had_ to be the News.

“Pip!” He yelled as he began walking quickly the same way he had the previous day. Maybe the other would be by the river again. He tried not to get his hopes up, for fear that they’d be crushed, but he just couldn’t seem to help it. He made it there in record time and nearly fell over when someone collided with him.

“Oh I thought you’d gone for good!” Pip’s melodic voice filled his ears, “I’m so happy you’re back!” He hugged him tightly, nuzzling his chest.

Damien grinned and wrapped his arms around the smaller boy’s frame, “Me too. It’s good to see you.” He was surprised to find how happy he felt. He’d never really gotten so attached to someone before that he was actually _happy_ to see them again.

Two big blue eyes looked up at him joyfully, “Don’t ever leave again, okay?”

“Ah, well…” Damien’s face fell, “I kind of have to. This is just a dream, remember? I’ll wake up.” Fuck, that was right. This would end again. What if he didn’t make it back next time?

“Oh…” Pip seemed to wilt, “Is that why you left?”

“Yeah. I had to go to school and stuff.”

“School…?” He asked, “What’s that?”

“It’s where kids go to learn stuff.”

“Oh…” Pip’s eyes narrowed and for a brief second he seemed to flicker, but it was gone just as quickly, leaving a sad boy looking up at him, “Will you at least promise you’ll come back?”

“I don’t know if I can, but I’ll try my hardest.” Damien smirked again and leaned down, “I like it here with you.” Their lips brushed and he was taken by surprise when it was Pip who pressed their lips firmly together. He moaned softly into the kiss and let one hand trail south, slipping under the tunic to grope Pip’s ass.

They parted and Pip giggled, “You’re still wanting to fuck me then?”

“ _Hell_ yes.” Damien growled, squeezing his rump. It was obvious by his demeanor that Pip still had no idea what it meant. That was fine, he’d just have to _show_ him.

“Okay.” Pip chirped, “I guess I’ll let you.”

“Good. Lay down in the grass and take our clothes off.”

\----------

Damien lay in the cool grass, a smirk on his lips and body thoroughly satisfied. Pip nuzzled his chest and hummed happily, prompting Damien to hug him a little tighter. He felt oddly at ease here, completely complacent under Pip’s soft touches.

“That was fun! What do you wanna do now?”

“Rest.” Damien announced, though he noted that he wasn’t really tired. His body hadn’t seemed to have become worn from the strenuous activity. Strange. Then again, this was a dream.

Just a fucking dream.

“Oh, okay. How long?”

“Jeez, you’re impatient aren’t you?” He grinned, chuckling some. Pip’s enthusiasm was cute.

“Well…” He sat up, cocking his head, “I just wanna do as much as I can with you while you’re here. What if you leave and never come back??”

Damien sighed, “Yeah… I guess that’s a good point.” A good, unfortunate point. He sat up as well and stretched. He felt the familiar tingle of clothing and looked down to find his black tunic. 

Pip jumped up, white tunic swaying, “What do you wanna do??” He seemed very excited.

Damien pushed himself to his feet and brushed himself off out of habit. “I dunno. What is there to do around here?” He looked around some, then smiled slightly at Pip, finding his excitement a little contagious.

“Anything we want!” Pip announced excitedly, “We could slay a dragon or explore Atlantis or-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Damien cut him off, “How?”

Pip paused, looking adorably confused, “What?”

“How can we possibly- Nevermind.” He shook his head. He’d nearly forgotten this wasn’t real. It was just a dream, and they could do whatever they wanted in a dream.

Just a dream…

Why did that realization make his chest hurt so much?

Pip smiled and grabbed his hand in a delicate grip. Damien stared down at them and laced their fingers together. An odd feeling washed over him when he looked again at Pip, but it wasn’t the usual lust he knew so well.

Did he have a crush on dream boy?

“Let’s be mermaids.” Pip announced, “We can explore the ocean. It’ll be fun!”

“Uh, okay.” Damien hesitantly agreed. Try as he might, it was still tough for him to grasp that Pip’s abilities in this dream might be completely endless.

The world flickered and grew dimmer. It wasn’t until Pip’s hair began floating that he realized they were underwater. He held his breath out of instinct and Pip laughed and cupped his face, “There’s no need for that. Just breathe.”

It took a moment, but Damien eventually sucked in a large breath. He hadn’t felt like he’d ever been holding it though. 

This kept getting stranger.

“Come on!” Pip grabbed his hand again, “We’ve got lots to explore.” He headed deeper, which finally prompted Damien to check out what exactly their lower portions looked like.

Neither were wearing their tunics anymore, but Pip was wearing some sort of thin, transparent shawl. For someone with such a nice body, he certainly seemed at least a little self-conscious about it. Their legs disappeared into scales and long, flowing fins came off from the front, back, and sides. At the very end of their tails was one very large fin. Pip’s consisted of blues and whites, whereas Damien’s was red and black.

All in all, very fucking cool.

Damien found that it was almost second nature to move the tail to swim. There was no urge to kick two separate feet, just gently wave the single appendage. 

The bottom of the ocean lay before them. The ruins of an ancient, massive, and intricate city lay there, crumbling but still somehow majestic. Pip led them through archways and down open, pillared halls. There were artifacts laying everywhere, remains of street vendors and homes, and many walls were painted with amazing artworks or covered in murals of gems and colored glass. Impressive statues lined the streets, many of them headless or armless.

“Isn’t it gorgeous?” Pip asked, stopping and smiling at him.

“Yeah… Wow.” Damien looked around, taking in the amazing sights. This place was truly breath-taking, but… Something was off. It seemed eerily empty. Obviously, there would be no people here, but…

“Where are all the fish?”

“Fish?” Pip tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“You know, the fish. The colorful ones you find in the ocean. There should be sharks too and octopi and squid and all sorts of crazy stuff.”

“Um…” Pip looked around, seemingly distressed, “Fish?” He paused and lifted a hand to his mouth in a thoughtful gesture, “Fish…?”

The entire world flickered, flashing an empty white for just a moment. Then, pixels seemed to run down it, distorting it momentarily before going back to their original place, making the world temporarily look like a globe. The same happened to Pip. Starting at his head and running quickly down to his feet, pixels distorted him inch by inch for merely a fraction of a second each. Once it was all over, taking merely moments, and everything was back in its place, Pip perked up and snapped his fingers, “Oh, fish!”

Damien stared with wide-eyes, unsure of what to say. Should he ask what that was about…?

The moment quickly moved on when Pip threw his hands out and fish began popping up all around them. Bright, colorful, an array of species. They swam in a panic, as though startled by their sudden existence.

Pip giggled, “How’s that?”

“Um…” Damien looked around and noted that many other creatures had also appeared. There were a couple sharks in the distance, as were whales, and several smaller creatures like octopi and anemones clung to walls and statues.

The place was now teeming with life.

“It looks great.” He finally smiled, “Good job.”

“Thanks!” Pip grabbed his hand again, “You’re so much fun, Damien!”

\----------

They spent what felt like hours swimming around and exploring the vast, sunken city. Despite the depth, there was plenty of light. Gems and glass shined brightly, making the entire structure glow. Truly a breath-taking sight.

Eventually, they found themselves laying on their stomachs on a large, flattened wall, overlooking a coliseum. Damien rested his chin on his arms while Pip nuzzled against his shoulder. After several seconds of staring into space, he looked down at Pip affectionately and merely watched him for a moment before speaking, “You’re really beautiful, you know that?”

Pip looked at him in slight surprise, then smiled, “Oh, thank you! That’s very sweet.” He kissed his cheek, “I think you’re quite handsome too.” He rested his head back on Damien’s shoulder.

Damien went back to staring into space. Sea creatures swam around them, bringing life to the dead city. He could still hear The Noise in the distance. Music this time, as it had been for several hours now. A soft, rhythmic tune. It was calming.

“Is The Noise always there?” He asked.

Pip nodded, his hair tickling his shoulder, “Always. It’ll be music for a long time more, then that stops and other sounds start. Talking, laughter, stories.”

TV. It had to be a TV. Maybe a radio too. Where was it coming from though?

“Do you know where it comes from?”

Pip shrugged, “The sky? Everywhere. I’ve never found the source. It’s just always there.” He hummed and nuzzled Damien’s shoulder, “I wish _you_ were always here.”

“Yeah, me too…” This was certainly better than real life. They could do whatever they wanted here… Not to mention there was no one else to make drama or stir up trouble. Just the two of them. 

Paradise.

Pip’s lips caressed his cheek, prompting Damien to turn his head and catch them in a sloppy kiss. He deepened it and easily pushed Pip onto his back. It wasn’t much work to lay atop him, pressing their bodies close together. Pip moaned softly into the kiss and soon his hands were tangled in black hair, silently asking for more.

Damien’s hands wandered south, sliding between them. He was more than a little surprised to find two growing buds there, but that gave way to a smirk.

“You want it, don’t you?” He purred in Pip’s ear, earning a sigh.

“Yes…” Pip purred right back, nuzzling the side of his head and sliding his hands down to grip his broad shoulders. 

Damien chuckled softly and kissed Pip’s neck as he gripped and stroked both of their erect members. They felt different from a human penis, slimier for one, but they also had more ridges. Interesting.

He released them and rubbed around the area, searching. Pip lent a hand, gently guiding Damien’s fingers to an area just a few inches below his cock. There was a soft spot in the hard scales. Damien pressed a finger there and smirked when it slipped inside, forcing a sharp gasp from the body below him. He sank his finger in to the knuckle and wiggled it around in the tight, hot hole, making Pip whimper and writhe.

What a sight.

“You like that, don’t you?” Damien chuckled, thrusting the finger. Pip lightly bit his lip and nodded, face flushed. The reaction fueled Damien’s behavior, prompting him to add a second finger and bury it deep.

“Please!” Pip gasped, “Please, I want it…”

“Mm, well, since you asked so nicely.” Damien teased as he removed his finger. He wasted no time in lining up his throbbing cock with the tiny hole and burying himself inside in one harsh thrust. 

\----------

Being asleep quickly became favorable to being awake. Being with Pip was just so much _better_ than dealing with school and other friends and his parents. Not only did he get to experience some fantastic adventures but he could have sex basically any time he wanted. 

Like 30 minutes ago.

Damien moaned loudly and went rigid as he finished inside Pip’s willing hole. He sighed heavily and relaxed after several moments, then gently slid out. He fell onto the bed beside him and pulled the smaller body against him, nuzzling his shoulder.

It had taken a lot of explaining on Damien’s part and another of those weird glitchy pauses on Pip’s, but eventually Pip had been able to create for them a large house high up in one of the many jungle trees. It was made of a dark jungle wood, so it blended in very well with the surrounding trees. Not like it really needed to since they were the only ones here, but hey it looked pretty damn cool. 

The structure consisted simply of a large den and an adjoining bedroom. There was no kitchen or bathroom because, this being a dream, eating or using the facilities was unnecessary. There was a hole in the floor in a corner of the living room where it was possible to get into the house via a ladder up the side of the tree. There was a balcony past a curtain in the bedroom that overlooked the river where they met up every day. The house itself was sparsely decorated, but did have a rug and a few jungle-themed knick knacks. 

All in all, it was home.

What a strange thought. That a dream could be more like home to him than the waking world.

The smaller body against him shifted and rolled over, pressing closer. Damien smiled and hugged it tightly, burying his nose in blonde hair.

Pip giggled and kissed his neck, “You’re so much fun, Damien.” His voice was soft, soothing, loving. Damien was falling hard just for the sound alone, not to mention the boy beyond it. It was almost unbelievable. He’d barely been coming here a month and he was already choosing sleeping over being awake. He’d been skipping his morning classes just to sleep in and gain a few more hours with the beautiful blonde.

“You too.” He purred, sliding one hand down Pip’s nude form and lacing their fingers together, “No one’s ever made me happier.”

“Duh.” Pip teased, “We’re meant to be. Of course I’d make you happy.” He kissed his throat, “You make me happy too.”

“Meant to be, huh?” Damien grinned lopsidedly, “I like the sound of that.” He lifted his left arm, where Pip was laying, and placed his hand on his shoulder.

“It’s true.” Pip insisted, “We’re connected by the red string.”

“What red string?” He tried to lean back some so he could look down curiously.

“The red string of fate. Can’t you see it?” Pip looked at him in confusion. He unlaced their fingers and lifted his left hand to toy with Damien’s left hand, “There’s a string tied around our little fingers and they’re connected. Everyone has one and they always lead to that person’s soul mate.”

Damien stared down at their hands, but saw nothing. “How can you see it?”

Pip gave a half-shrug, “I dunno. I can always see them.”

“Always?” He scrunched his nose some, “I thought I was the only other person you’ve ever met?”

There was a long pause in which Pip merely stared up at him in innocent confusion. Then, the world once again flickered, going pixelated for the briefest of moments, before returning to normal. Pip smiled and shrugged again, then nuzzled Damien’s neck, hiding his face there.

Damien realized he wasn’t going to get an answer.

Before he could even consider protesting, a knocking caught his attention. He groaned and hugged Pip tight, “Fuuuuck. I guess I’m about to go.” He knew by now that Pip couldn’t hear the noises on his end and they tended to draw him from his sleep.

“Oh, okay.” Pip muttered, “You’d better come back soon though.”

“I’ll try.” He cupped his cheek and leaned down to get a final kiss, but it was too late.

He groaned loudly and curled tighter in his empty bed as the knocking continued. He hugged himself tight, wishing he still had the warmth of the other man beside him. Being awake made his chest hurt. He always missed Pip immediately and very strongly. 

“Damien!” Came his father’s gruff voice, “Wake up!”

“I’m _up_!” He snarled, sitting up, “ _What_?!” 

“You’re missing school again.”

Damien growled and checked the clock. Nearly noon. His father must have been home for lunch, like usual.

“I don’t feel well.” He lied, falling back onto the bed, “I wanna sleep.”

“You’ve been late the last three days. Wanna go to the doctor?”

“No!” He huffed, “Just let me sleep it off.”

“Damien, you’d better not be acting up because of the move.” His father warned.

“I’m not. I promise I’ll get up early tomorrow.”

“You’d best get up _now_.”

Damien growled again and forced himself out of bed to start the day. He got dressed, then gave his father a bit of a glare as he left his room.

“Don’t give me that look.” The larger man warned, “I outta ground you.”

“Oh, wow.” Damien rolled his eyes, “I guess I won’t get to hang out with all the friends I don’t have or watch the TV I don’t care about or play on the laptop I hardly use. Jeez what a disaster.” The comment earned him a hard smack upside the head, which made him stumble some.

“Shut the fuck up and get your ass to school.” His father growled.

Damien said nothing. He snagged his backpack off a chair and headed out the door.

\----------

The hall was deserted, as expected. He had half a mind to go back home since his father had probably gone back to work, but he dragged on toward the office. He took his time, glancing at decorations and pictures on the wall. Eventually, he stepped in and signed his name on a check-in sheet, giving the secretary the sick excuse. The bell rang as he stepped out and almost instantly the hall filled with students. He spotted Bebe coming out of Home Ec, folders and balls of yarn in her arms, and he headed over to join her.

“Hey, Damien.” She smiled, “Missed you in English. _Again_.”

He shrugged, “Slept in.”

“You do that a lot, huh?” 

He hadn’t used to, actually. As of the last month though… “Yeah. I stay up late.”

“Well, go to bed earlier, silly!” She teased, giving his arm a solid punch. She put a lot of force behind it, but it barely hurt him, drawing instead a small laugh.

Someone hurried by them, brushing past her with force. She stumbled some and dropped several papers and a red ball of yarn. Damien grabbed her arm to steady her and both let out an exasperated growl. “You okay?” He asked her as she squatted to grab papers.

“Yeah. Can you get my yarn?” The ball had bounced and rolled, leaving behind a trail of red string as it headed down an adjoining hall.

“Sure.” He followed the trail and caught up to the ball when it stopped against a trophy case. He bent down and snatched it off the ground, then straightened and stood still while he rolled it up. He stared blankly at some pictures and trophies in the case, examining them with mild interest as he continued rolling the long red string back into its ball.

He ceased his movements, eyes widening when they landed on a picture frame on a middle shelf. A pretty blonde stared back at him, lips upturned but blue eyes empty. A familiar, hollow smile. 

“Pip…?” He breathed, stiffening. He barely heard Bebe walk up behind him.

“Hey, you got my yarn?” She asked, snapping him out of his daze.

“Uh…” He looked down at it, then back to the picture, then to her, then back at the picture. He pointed to it, “He’s…” He wasn’t sure what he was trying to say. There was too much going on in his head. Pip was _real_??

She looked at the picture and her face fell, “Oh, that’s Phillip Pirrup. He used to go here up until last year.”

“Phillip…” The name rolled off his tongue. “Where’d he go?” He asked her. Had he moved? Surely not… They wouldn’t put his picture up for something so simple. 

She quickly snatched the yarn and expertly rolled it with one hand. “I dunno.” She said quickly.

Too quickly.

“Let’s get to class.” She smiled nodding in the other direction.

He stayed still a moment as she walked away. He cast one last glance at the photo before following her, eyeing her back suspiciously.

What was she hiding?

\----------

His final class of the day was Music Appreciation, which was nothing more than a blow-off class. They never did any real work, just had to read some hand-outs and answer easy questions. Took less than twenty minutes and left the rest of the hour free to dick around.

Token, Craig, and Tweek had the class with him. He took his usual seat behind Token and beside Craig, whom sat behind Tweek. Once they were all finished they turned slightly in their chairs to chat. It took barely ten minutes of mindless gossip before Damien couldn’t take it anymore. He had to ask.

“Hey.” He spoke up, gaining his group’s attention, “Did you guys know Phillip Pirrup?”

He’d barely finished the name when Tweek gasped and slapped both hands over his mouth, eyes wide with fear. Craig was quick to reach up and grip his arm comfortingly. He and Token exchanged glances before he slowly answered. “Yeah, we knew him.”

“’Kay. What happened to him?”

“He moved away.”

Damien’s eyes narrowed, “People don’t get their photos in a case by moving away.”

Tweek covered his face with both hands, seemingly trying to hide. Craig and Token glanced at one another again before looking at Damien. “Look.” Token explained, “When it comes to him, people either know too much, or nothing at all. It’s best to be in the second category, trust us.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Damien growled. He was in no mood for games.

“Then ask someone else.” Craig urged, “We’re done talking about this.” He turned away, focusing his attention on Tweek.

_Ugh_! This was _ridiculous_! He didn’t have time for this _bullshit_! He had to find out more about Phillip. If those dreams were real, it could mean he had a shot at a _life_ with him. A life with his soul mate-

Wait.

That was it!

Kenny and Butters had the red string on their fingers and had called each other soul mates. Maybe they knew something too. Maybe they could see what Phillip saw.

He had to find out.

\----------

Butters and Kenny shared a locker, he’d learned. Kenny had his own, but he didn’t like its location and the two liked to keep close together, so they just used the same one. He nearly ran to it after the bell rang and was relieved to find Kenny grabbing his backpack. He slammed the locker door just as Damien walked up behind him.

“Hey.” Damien greeted, “Can I walk with you guys?”

“It’s just me today.” Kenny explained, “Butters got grounded again.”

“Oh.” Another thing he’d learned; Butters’ parents were completely insane.

“But, yeah, you can walk with me.” Kenny shrugged. He headed out the double doors with Damien in tow. It was chilly out, as always, but neither male seemed to pay much attention to it.

“I actually had a question, if you don’t mind.” He didn’t really care if Kenny cared, actually. Some of Pip’s politeness was just rubbing off on him, he supposed.

“Shoot.”

“Well…” When he’d asked directly, people had avoided the question. Maybe he could gently lead Kenny into it. “The red string on your hand, the soul mates thing… Where’d you hear that?”

“A friend.” Kenny said simply, voice solemn.

“Ah. How do you know it’s true?”

“I just do.”

“Can you… See them?”

“No.” Brown eyes finally fell on him, “Why? Can _you_?”

“Well, no-”

“Then how do you even know about it?” Kenny stopped walking, prompting Damien to as well. There was a harsh look in his eyes and Damien quickly realized he was treading in dangerous waters.

“A friend.” He said simply, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Who?”

Damn, when had _he_ become the one getting grilled for information?

“Well, it’s hard to say-”

“ _Who_??” Kenny raised his voice and gritted his teeth.

_Shit_.

“Well, uh.” Damien shifted uncomfortably. This was actually a little scary. He had half a mind to lie, but he didn’t know where that would land him, so maybe the truth was better. “It’s hard to explain. Um… See, when I go to sleep at night, I wake up in this… other place. There’s this boy there, he calls himself Pip. He looks just like a boy who used to go here, Phillip Pirrup. He told me about the strings in the dream. He said he could see them, and that he and I are connected…”

Silence.

Kenny was looking at him intensely, body rigid, jaw hardened. His eyes, however, were filled with pain and anger. He lashed out before Damien even had time to think. “You _fucker_!” He snarled, slamming the dark haired male against the wall of the school, “You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?!”

“W-what??” Damien gasped. He gripped Kenny’s fists, which were gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly, keeping him pinned to the wall. “No!”

“I don’t know _where_ you heard about it or _who_ from, but you _shut the fuck up_ , okay?!” Kenny yelled at him, “I don’t give a _fuck_ if you want to hurt me and I don’t even care _why_ , but don’t you _dare_ drag him into this!”

Someone was behind him and soon a hand was on Kenny’s shoulder. Kenny shoved himself away from Damien and stepped back. He was still angry though, that much was apparent. He pointed a finger in a warning fashion at Damien, “And I _swear_ to _God_ …” His voice wavered with emotion, “If you _ever_ speak to Butters about that, so help me…” He didn’t need to finish the sentence. Damien got the message.

“Kenny.” Stan was behind him, along with Kyle, trying to offer a comforting hand, but Kenny turned away.

“Don’t.” Kenny shook his head, “Just leave me alone.” He quickly headed down the sidewalk toward home.

Stan looked at Damien, “What’d you do?”

Damien stepped away from the wall and brushed himself off. He hadn’t cared much for being manhandled, but he supposed he’d deserved it, in a way. Pip was obviously a touchy subject around here. “I asked him about Phillip Pirrup.”

Both boy’s eyes widened. “Where did you hear about him?” Stan asked evenly.

“I saw his picture in the trophy case. Bebe gave me his name.”

“Why do you even care?” Kyle asked.

“Just curious.”

“Well drop it.” The redhead snapped, “It’s none of your business and no one’s going to tell you a thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s none of your business!!” Kyle repeated, raising his voice.

“Kyle.” Stan put a hand against his chest, holding him back. To Damien he said, “Look, if you wanna know about Pip, go talk to Eric Cartman. He’s the only one who’ll give you an actual answer. Probably.”

Probably? Fuck. Well, it was a start. Someone to ask directly who might not shy away or avoid the question.

“Alright, thanks.”

“You’re not welcome.” Stan replied, “You should really just stop even thinking about it. You’re gonna find out too much and be in the same bind that we are.”

“What do you mean?” Damien pressed, but it was in vain. Stan merely shook his head and he and Kyle took their leave.


	3. Blood

The sounds of birds were now quite common here. Yet another thing Damien had had to coax Pip into creating. They helped to drown out the sound of The Noise, but it was still ever present all around them. He’d learned to tune it out, like background noise, but every once in a while a section of dialogue would catch his attention and he’d be reminded all over again that this wasn’t real.

Except, today, he knew that despite the fakeness of this place, Pip himself was very real. 

He awoke in the grass in a small clearing. He didn’t know why he always woke in the same place nor did he know how to possibly awake in another. He was used to this area though and it was easy to find his way to the river, where Pip was often splashing around in the water.

He barely saw a flash of blonde before his lover was in his arms. He lifted him off the ground with ease and their lips collided as Pip’s legs wrapped around his waist and his arms around his neck. Pip was light, so holding him was hardly a difficult task.

Damien didn’t have to open his eyes to know the environment shifted. He could just _feel_ it. They were inside now, in their shared home high in the trees.

The kiss was broken and Pip let out a soft giggle as he leaned back. Damien let him go, allowing him to fall onto the bed. Their clothing was gone.

Damien wanted to start questioning the other about his real name and going to school and such, but those thoughts were pushed aside when Pip spread his legs, inviting him.

Yeah, the pop quiz could wait.

\----------

There wasn’t anything particularly interesting about the ceiling, but Damien found himself staring at it often. Not that he minded, however, because if he was staring at it that usually meant Pip was laying on his chest, drawing little shapes in his skin. It kind of tickled, but he really liked the feeling. There was something intimate about it, domestic even, making him smile and squeeze Pip’s shoulder. He let his head role to the side and stared down at his lover. Soon enough, blue eyes were on him and a light blush coated pale skin.

“What?” Pip asked, eyeing him with a curious innocence.

Damien grinned, “Nothing. Just thinking about how beautiful you are.”

The blush thickened and Pip was quick to bury his face in Damien’s neck, “Hush!”

The reaction made Damien laugh. “It’s true though.” That earned a loud whine from Pip, which only fueled his laughter. “You’re really cute too.”

“Hush your mouth!” Pip whined, pouting when Damien laughed again. He smacked his chest lightly, prompting Damien to finally cease his teasing.

“Okay, okay. I’m sorry.” He reached across his torso and grabbed Pip’s hand, lacing their fingers together. He rolled over some so that they were facing each other eye to eye.

Pip smiled and squeezed gently, “You’re forgiven.”

Damien watched him for several moments, just enjoying his warmth and company. He didn’t want to say it yet, but he was certain he was falling in love with this boy. That was okay though, wasn’t it? They were supposedly soul mates, after all. So he was meant to fall in love with him. 

“Hey.” He spoke, gaining his lover’s attention, “I need to ask you an important question.”

“Oh, okay…” Pip looked at him curiously, “Shoot.”

“You said your name was Pip. Is it possible that it’s actually Phillip?”

“…Phillip…?” He seemed to space out some.

“Phillip Pirrup.” Damien clarified, “That’s your name, isn’t it?”

“…Yes…” Pip spoke, voice hollow, “But everyone calls me Pip because they hate me.”

The world flickered. Once, twice, three times. He’d been used to it flickering just once for a brief moment, but fear immediately rushed through him when it did it twice more. Pip flickered like static and for the briefest moment Damien was laying on concrete with him, saw him battered and bruised, eyes empty, blonde hair stained with blood and red liquid running down his face. There was an awareness that people were around them, but he couldn’t see them. It was gone just as quickly and everything snapped back to normal.

Damien stared with wide, fear-filled eyes, mouth slightly agape, heart racing, prompting Pip to give him a funny look, “What?”

His mouth snapped shut and he slowly shook his head, “Nothing.” He let go of Pip’s hand and pulled him into a tight hug instead, “Nothing.” He buried his face in blonde hair and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. Was he trembling? He couldn’t tell. He felt Pip’s arms slip under his shoulders and hug him tight as well.

_‘Everyone calls me Pip because they hate me.’_ What did that mean? He wanted to ask, but he was terrified that this time the world would flicker and never come back on. Either that, or Pip would appear bloody again. He couldn’t possibly handle that. The image only appeared for a moment, but it was burned into his mind forever. Beaten, bloody, pale, eyes hollow. He looked…

Dead.

\----------

The hooves were certainly an adjustment. Damien shifted back and forth on his four legs, staring at them with slight distrust. They looked so breakable. How could such a large beast have such thin legs?? 

“You like?” Pip chirped, smiling at him. From the waist up he was the same, normal Pip Damien had come to know and love. From the waist down, however, was the body of a white horse.

“Yeah, it’s… interesting.” Damien looked back down at himself, where his hips turned into a large, black body, “Are these legs safe though?”

“Of course! It’s not like I’d let you get hurt, silly.” Pip giggled.

Oh, right. This was a dream, or something. He’d become so used to changes like this that it just seemed normal. Part of this had to be real though, right? Pip was real, after all. Or, at least, Phillip Pirrup was real. But, the environment seemed real too. He could _feel_ things. It wasn’t just an illusion.

“Come on!” Pip urged, trotting slightly ahead, “Let’s go exploring!”

“Alright.” Damien trotted behind him and soon they were both galloping through the woods. He kept up with Pip with ease and smiled broadly as they raced through the trees. Thrilling, a rush, this entire experience was exhilarating. 

Pip began to slow, prompting him to do the same. They walked for a while, hand in hand, before coming to a halt at the edge of a cliff. The ocean sprawled out before them, massive, blue, and seemingly never-ending. Pip rested his head against Damien’s shoulder and squeezed his hand.

Originally, Damien had believed that when the environment changed, Pip had completely re-written the world. But, he’d learned recently, that that was not the case. In fact, Pip was actually moving them to a different location within the vast world. Sure, he could change things about it, but it seemed as though the entire place was already laid out, like an entirely different world than the waking one.

Though, that may not have been true. He’d been on concrete earlier. He wasn’t sure if that was some sort of change, or if there was a place somewhere here with cities and towns. If there was… Did that mean this really was a dream, or that he was literally waking up somewhere else with some sort of magical boy?

Either option was pretty bizarre, in all honesty.

After several blissfully peaceful moments, Pip lifted his head and looked at him thoughtfully, smiling gently. In the time they’d been together, that originally blank and hollow look had changed. Pip was more aware now, it seemed, more alive. Those blue eyes always sparkled and the smile lit up the world. He was perfection in physical form.

“What?” Damien asked, grinning at him.

“Nothing.” Pip smirked, “Just thinking about how handsome you are.”

Damien chuckled and shook his head, “Don’t even try. I _know_ I’m a stud.” He smirked and wrapped an arm around Pip’s middle, holding him.

“You’re very humble too.” Pip giggled, smiling up at him.

“I know. I’m the most humble person I know.” The sentence made Pip laugh, a beautiful sound. Even one of Mozart’s greatest symphonies couldn’t possibly rival the tune. Pip settled against him and for a moment Damien was content to just hold him, but a thought that had been gnawing at him for a while now was fighting for an escape. Eventually, he had to come clean. “Hey.”

Pip looked up at him and smiled softly, “Yes?”

“I think…” The words died on his tongue as he looked down into those blue eyes. A swell of emotion in his chest brought them back though. “I think I love you.”

“Oh.” Pip said simply, smiling more, “Well, I _know_ I love you.”

A massive, thrilled smile split Damien’s face. He hugged Pip tightly, burying his face in his hair. “I love you so much!” He declared, needing to voice the emotions that were filling his chest.

“I love you too.” Pip giggled against his chest, giving the flesh a gentle kiss.

Damien breathed his scent, keeping his face in the soft, silky locks. More and more this place was becoming so real to him he could hardly recall that it likely was not. In fact, he was starting to simply refuse to believe it all together.

This was _real_ , damnit.

“You’re _real_.” Damien whispered in Pip’s hair, “I _know_ you are. You _have_ to be.”

“Of course I am, silly.” Pip loosened his grip and looked up at him with a smile.

Damien cupped the side of his face and gazed at him with a thoughtful smile, “I wanna make love to you.”

“Mkay.” Pip giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips before stepping back. He grinned mischievously, “You gotta catch me first though.” He suddenly darted, four legs carrying him like lightning through the trees.

Damien was too stunned to move at first, but he quickly pulled himself out of his stupor and took off in chase. He could barely see Pip’s rear through the trees ahead, but he was quickly gaining.

It took significantly less time to get back than it had to get to the cliff. The trees cleared, revealing the river and Pip standing ankle deep. Damien slowed a few paces from him and walked into the water with him, grabbing his hand. “Got you.” He smirked, pulling him closer.

“Not even.” Pip chuckled, letting himself be tugged over, “I made it to the river. I won.”

“Oh, so does that mean you _don’t_ want to make love?”

“I never said that.” Pip was the one to press their lips together in a passionate kiss, wrapping his arms securely around Damien’s neck.

Damien felt the cool breeze and chilly water disappear. His own two feet stood on top of a wooden floor and his nude form pressed against Phillip’s. He broke the kiss and stepped back to examine the beautiful body, running his hands across smooth flesh.

Pip giggled, “So, what’s the difference between having sex and making love?”

Damien smirked and gently kissed his jaw, “Lay down and I’ll show you.”

\----------

The buzzing of his alarm made him groan. He hugged Pip tighter, curling up in the bed more. He didn’t _want_ to wake up, damnit, but he’d promised his father he’d go.

Besides. He needed to talk to Cartman.

“You have to go?” Pip asked, not being able to hear the sound of the alarm.

“Yeah. I’ll be back though. I love you.”

“Okay.” Pip kissed him, “I love you too. Stay safe.”

The words were strange and he wanted to ask what he meant, but he didn’t even have time to reply before his eyes were open and he was staring at his wall, the alarm making a racket behind him. He rolled over and turned it off before climbing out of bed. He got dressed, brushed his teeth, skipped breakfast, grabbed his bag, and walked to school.

\----------

The table was eerily silent at lunch. Tweek and Craig seemed absorbed in each other while Token, Clyde, and Bebe were having a quiet argument about a class. Damien finished his lunch, which consisted of a hot ham and cheese, jello, and broccoli, as quickly as possible and tossed the trey in the trash. The table beside his own was missing a few usual occupants. Kenny was eating at an empty table in the corner, away from the fat boy, and Butters was nowhere in sight, probably still on lock-down at his house. He stepped up to the other table, gaining anxious looks from Kyle and Stan, and put his hand on Cartman’s shoulder. Cartman gave him an irritated look, “What?”

“We need to talk.” He said simply, voice stern. 

Cartman sneered at him, but surprisingly enough got up and followed him out of the cafeteria. Damien led them through the hall to the boy’s bathroom, where students rarely seemed to venture. The tiled room was pretty crummy; yellowed walls, stained toilets, floor tiles a rainbow of the worst kind of colors that likely resulted from urine, feces, and blood. All in all, not a pleasant place to be.

Damien turned on Cartman, eyes hard. “You know something about Phillip Pirrup, and I wanna know what.” He pointed a finger at him accusingly, the other hand clenched. There was just something about Cartman that immediately made him angry. He had a hard time talking to him in the halls or cafeteria and thankfully didn’t have a class with him. He didn’t know how the others put up with him.

Cartman scoffed and rolled his eyes, “Tch, like I’m gonna tell _you_ anything. Stan and Kyle already told me you were snooping around. Back off, or I’ll do to you what was done to Pip.” His tone was threatening, but the sentence only served to fuel Damien’s anger. 

Damien snarled, enraged, and grabbed Cartman by the front of his shirt, slamming him against a wall. There was a flicker of fear in his eyes, which made Damien want to smirk, but he stopped himself, settling for gritted teeth instead. “Listen here, you fat fuck.” He snarled, “You think I don’t have a fucking record already? You’re just another black mark on a long list of them. Don’t think I won’t _fucking_ hurt you to find out what I want to know.” He pressed harder against Cartman’s chest, making his hands slide closer to his neck and forcing a slight choking noise from the other boy.

Cartman smirked, but it was weak and likely just false bravado, which was further proven when his voice wavered as he spoke, “You think you’re so tough? Well, I don’t have to hit you to hurt you. I know you’re friends with Token’s group and Kenny and Butters. If I tell you what happened, you can’t do shit to me. You beat me up and you’ll be in trouble and if you tell people what I told you, then your friends get in trouble too for being accessories. You really want Kenny or poor little Butters to rot in prison?”

Prison? So whatever had happened to Pip was prison worthy?

Damien pulled Cartman slightly away from the wall, only to slam him against it again, “I don’t give a shit about reporting you. I just want to know what you did.” Actually, he probably would report Cartman if he could, but not if it meant getting his friends in trouble too.

Cartman grunted at the rough treatment, but smirked again, wider this time, more sure, “I bashed the stupid Brit over the head with a chunk of ice.”

Damien felt his blood run cold, his mind racing, chest clenching. The image of Pip bruised and bloody on the concrete kept flashing in his mind. He couldn’t _take_ this! He had to know what had happened to his lover. Had he killed Pip? Merely injured him? Caused brain death? Coma? Maybe just severely injured him and he was either still in the hospital or left the country? “Is he dead?” Damien asked, voice dangerously even. 

“Tch.” Cartman scoffed, “Who knows? Who _cares_? All I know is he ain’t here anymore.”

“ _I_ care!” Damien yelled, slamming him against the wall again, “Is he dead or not?!” 

“I don’t know!” Cartman pleaded, fear starting to show, “He just disappeared! I didn’t hear about him moving or a funeral or anything! I don’t knoooowww!!”

Fed up, Damien released him, letting him slump to the floor. He wanted to beat the shit out of him, but what was the point? He’d just go crying to a teacher then Damien would be in trouble and if he tried to defend himself a lot of people would be in trouble.

Token was right. People either knew too much or nothing at all and he sort of wished he still knew nothing.

\----------

The rest of the day passed by in a blur. He couldn’t get his mind off Pip and what Cartman had done. What if he was dead? Did that mean he was somehow haunting Damien? Literally nothing about this made sense. How could he possibly be meeting in his dreams someone who actually existed? It didn’t add up.

Maybe he was going crazy.

“Did you get your answers?” Token asked when he turned around in his seat to face him. Final period, nearly done for the day. 

Damien nodded slowly, staring at the back of Token’s chair with a sort of spaced-out gaze, “You were right. I know too much and there’s nothing I can do with the information.”

“Now you know how _we_ feel.” Craig said, “We want to turn him in, but we can’t without getting ourselves in deep shit too. I’d almost be willing to do it anyway, but…” He trailed off, turning his gaze to a trembling blonde in the seat in front of him.

Damien understood completely, of course. Stan had been right, this was a bind. He was at a loss for what to do. He thought Cartman would give him more clues as to what had happened to Pip and why he was seeing him in his dreams, but Cartman didn’t know enough about what had happened after the fact to really help. There was no logical reasoning for what was happening.

Back to square one, it seemed.

\----------

He attempted to get out of dinner and go straight to his bedroom, but his parents were having none of it. He ended up being stuck at the table between the two adults who were grilling him for information. Was he happy here? Why was he sleeping so much? How were his grades? Did he get along with classmates? Teachers? Did he have a boyfriend yet? Etcetera, etcetera. 

He bullshitted his way through it and escaped to his room, where he decided it would probably be best if he did his homework. He had a feeling that if Pip understood the concept, he’d want him to do well in school. He had a tough time concentrating though, his excitement over seeing Pip again making it difficult to recall the needed information.

Not to mention science wasn’t his strong point. He didn’t _need_ to know this! He was going to be a tattoo artist, not a goddamn _rocket_ scientist! 

He muddled through it though, deciding he didn’t care if he got a few wrong, and was eventually able to shove the papers back into his bag. He grinned upon the realization that it was Friday, meaning he could sleep in tomorrow. He quickly headed to the bathroom for a speedy shower, looking forward to spending extended time with his lover.

\----------

Damien never really understood why they weren’t allowed across the river, just knew that Pip refused to go further than the bank on the opposite side. Oddly, Damien always awoke on the ‘wrong side’ and always found Pip on the shore line of the same side, but Pip never traveled into the tree line there or seemed even remotely curious about where Damien awoke. Their home in the trees was on the other side of the river where they often explored freely.

Curiosity seeped into his mind again as he stood with Pip on the bank, skipping rocks. “Why can’t we go over there?” He asked again, pointing to the opposite side of the body of water. 

Pip shrugged, “I don’t want to.” He bent down and grabbed another thin rock.

The answer was so strange for someone who wanted to explore everything. It nagged at Damien to keep prying. “What if _I_ want to?” 

“Well, we shouldn’t.” Pip stood, flinging his rock with practiced ease. It skipped eight times before falling into the water.

“Why not?” It was Damien’s turn to squat and find a suitable rock.

“Because.”

“Because why?”

“Because I said so.”

Damien stood, tossing a rock in his palm, “Well, maybe I’ll just go over by myself then and then you don’t have to. I always wake up over there anyway. Maybe tomorrow I won’t come this way, I’ll go the other way.” He flicked the rock with force, skipping it sixteen times.

Pip glared sharply, “ _Don’t_.”

The act startled Damien some. He hadn’t seen Pip get angry or mean. Pip was usually smiling and pleased with whatever they did. “Why not?” He persisted anyway, “What’s over there that you’re so afraid of?”

Pip gave him a worried but slightly guilty look. He glanced at the opposite side, then looked back at Damien, then to the ground. “I don’t know.” He admitted softly.

“You don’t know? Why not find out?”

A shrug, “Dunno. I just get this feeling that I really shouldn’t go over there, so I don’t.”

Damien cast him a perplexed look. It seemed strange that such a curious boy would just totally write-off something so strange. Then again, he’d obviously been mostly ignoring The Noise too, and that was an incredibly strange phenomena. “Well, why can’t I? _I_ don’t get a weird feeling.”

“I don’t want you to!” Pip grabbed his hand, looking at him in concern, “What if something bad happens to you? I don’t want you to go!”

“Okay, okay.” He quickly wrapped Pip in a tight hug, “I won’t go. Calm down.”

“Promise?” Pip’s voice was muffled by Damien’s chest, where his face was buried and his arms were wrapped tightly around.

“Promise.”

\----------

He’d never been good at keeping promises, but already he was beginning to think maybe he should have kept this one. Not that he was frightened or anything as he carefully worked his way through the trees in the opposite direction as he usually went after waking, it was just that he knew if he _did_ get himself killed or hurt or whatever Pip would be upset. He didn’t like hurting Pip. It rarely happened, but sometimes he’d say something shitty and he could see the pain in those pretty blue eyes, though Pip never seemed to be able to vocalize his displeasure. He hated seeing it though and he knew he was going to hate himself if Pip found out about this.

He was just starting to get fed-up with walking when finally the trees broke and he was left standing in front of a white picket fence. Beyond it was a small cottage with smoke coming out of a tall chimney. There was a chair swing on its roofed-over porch and a stack of wood along one side of the wall.

Well. That was fucking weird.

He looked around and saw no one and a gate just a few feet away. It was unlocked and he was quick to head into the fence, despite a strange sense of impending doom. There was an oddly loud silence here and it took him a moment to realize he could not hear The Noise here. He was certain it had been there earlier, but had ceased upon entering the fence.

God, what was he walking into?

He crossed the small yard to the house, senses on high alert the whole time. No one seemed to be around, but it didn’t make him feel much better.

He should have kept his promise.

The three steps creaked when he walked up them to the porch. The warped wood seemed to be pretty old and also voiced its displeasure as he walked across it to the door, which wasn’t in much better condition.

He knocked twice, hesitantly, then stood completely still, listening, breaths ceasing.

Silence. 

The sound of his pounding heart drowned out any small noises that may have come from inside, but he was fairly certain it was empty. Swallowing roughly, he reached down and gripped the door handle, turning it with mild difficulty due to sweaty palms. There was a pause before he pushed it open, not even bothering to call out a greeting, fearing just the sound of his voice might start a chain reaction of some sort.

The smell hit him first. Wet, metallic, heavy, rotten. The door continued open even after he let go. He wished it hadn’t. 

One body, a woman’s, middle of the floor, leg propped up on a ragged-looking couch, blood all over the floor, gaping holes in her chest, face contorted in horror. Straight across the room from the door was an archway were a bloody trail led. A pair of legs was visible beyond, belonging to a man if the boots were any indication, and more blood coated the floor and cabinets there.

Damien didn’t even bother to shut the door. He was off the porch and hauling ass across the yard in a matter of seconds. Jumping the fence was like suddenly lifting his head out of water; everything seemed lighter and The Noise was suddenly all around him again. He didn’t slow as he barreled through the woods at top speed, barely avoiding colliding with large trees. Even when he hit the clearing he kept going, refusing to stop until he was in the river. It felt like Hell was nipping at his back.

He tripped and stumbled through the water, finally, coming to a halt as cold water caressed his knees. He panted heavily, trembling, and bent over to catch the breath he never truly lost.

Just a dream.

“Damien?” Pip’s voice helped soothe his frayed nerves, “What happened?” He waded out to stand with him.

Damien took a deep breath and straightened, “Nothing.” He quickly pulled the shorter male into a tight embrace, “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Pip replied, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his neck, “You broke your promise, didn’t you?”

“N-no.” Damien lied despite knowing it was futile.

Pip looked up at him, pain in his eyes, “Why would you do that?”

“I’m sorry!” Damien pleaded.

Pip was quick to step back, crossing his arms and looking away, hurt evident in his beautiful features.

“Pip, please, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt you!”

“Then why would you do that??”

“I was just curious!”

“I told you not to go over there! I told you I was afraid of what would happen!”

“Well, nothing bad happened, so-”

“Then why were you running like that??”

“Well-”

“No, I don’t wanna hear it!” Pip yelled, fists clenched at his sides, “You could have _died_!”

Damien cringed as he was berated. He deserved it though, he knew. He shouldn’t have broken his promise. “I’m _sorry_. I truly am. If I could take it back, I would. I didn’t need to see what was over there, I know that now, but mostly I just shouldn’t have broken my promise and hurt you like that. Can you ever forgive me?”

Pip refused to look at him, but his posture relaxed some. There was a pause before he spoke slowly, “What _was_ over there anyway?”

“Um. A cabin or cottage or whatever.”

“A cottage?” Pip looked at him skeptically, “Just a cottage?”

“Well… I mean…. There were people inside.” Why did he get the feeling he shouldn’t be telling him this?

“People?” Pip seemed to brightened, “Were they nice?”

“Well… Maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“They were probably nice people, but mostly they were… dead.”

“…Dead…?” Pip practically whispered, eyes filling with pain and dread. His hands lifted and tangled in his hair as tears filled his eyes. The world flickered twice, making Damien gasp and cringe.

Oh, shit.

“H-hey, it’s okay.” He tried, reaching out for his lover, though he wasn’t sure what he could say to comfort him.

Pip blinked and looked up at him as though just realizing he was there. “I- my parents.”

“ _What_?”

“My parents… I think my parents are dead.” Pip turned, looking at the direction Damien had just run from, and pointed, “I live over there…”

Damien stared in shock for a moment. He’d asked Pip about his life, but Pip could never remember. _Now_ he recalled this vital information??

This just wasn’t right.

“Pip?” He got Pip’s attention again. He gave him a worried look, “Babe, have you ever considered that maybe… Maybe _you’re_ dead too?”

“…What?” His eyes were wide with disbelief, “N-no, I don’t think I am. I mean, I’m here with you and-”

“ _Pip_.” Damien spoke again, trying to sound more convincing, “None of this is normal. You shouldn’t be able to just do things the way you can and you shouldn’t have this much trouble with recall. Besides…” He hesitated, “Cartman killed you. He admitted to it.”

Pip stared at him with wide eyes and slowly shook his head, “No, I-I don’t know who that is, I-”

“Eric Cartman!” Damien persisted, “Your name is Phillip Pirrup and you went to South Park high school with Cartman and Kenny and Stan and Kyle and Butters and Craig and shit-tons of other assholes and last year Cartman bashed you over the head with a block of ice!”

Tears were running now, but Pip still didn’t seem to believe him. “No, no I’m not dead!” He shook his head, “I can’t be! I-I-!” The world flickered repeatedly as Pip sucked in small breaths of air, panicking.

Damien quickly realized he’d gone too far and reached out for his lover, but he caught only darkness.

His eyes snapped open. Sunlight streamed in through cracks in his curtains and birds outside welcomed him to a shitty morning. He rolled over to check the clock. 10:17am, Sunday morning.

He groaned and clenched his eyes shut, curling tighter into the sheets. An hour ticked by. Two. His mind was too active to go back to sleep and correct his error. 

Why had he done that? There was no need. Let Pip think he was alive. It was better that way anyway. What if he moved on and left Damien all alone?

Without a soul mate…

Did that mean he was going to spend the rest of his life alone? All because someone had murdered the one he was supposed to end up with? Or was he just going to be stuck with someone he loved but not quite as much as he loved Phillip; someone who didn’t quite complete him?

His bright future as a tattoo artist suddenly didn’t seem appealing in the least.


	4. Accident

The library was completely empty. Not surprising, afterall, as it was Sunday, meaning it was closed to all.

Except those few, like Damien, who knew how to pick a lock.

He’d attempted at home to merely do some internet searches for news on Phillip Pirrup from South Park, Colorado, but nothing turned up. Too small of a town, too unimportant an event.

Well, not unimportant to him.

He found the door to a room of records and, presumably, plenty of newspaper clippings from the town’s history. He picked the lock to that too, silently thanking his mother’s hair clip, before slipping inside. He found the light switch after a few moments of awkwardly groping the wall and soon light filled the room.

He went to work immediately. Assuming the accident happened sometime during the school year, he picked news clippings between January and May of the same year. The filing cabinets in the room were ordered based on year, then by months with the drawers, then by categories within that folder. He grabbed January, February, March, April, and May and plopped down on the floor, flipping them open one at a time. He found several marked categories in January; ‘Obituaries’, ‘Hospital related’, ‘Sports related’, ‘Politics related’, ‘Special events’, ‘School related’, and ‘Other.’ He grabbed ‘Obituaries’, ‘Hospital related’, and ‘School related’ and found article clippings in each. He flipped through them slowly and carefully, searching for a familiar name.

He didn’t find it.

He put everything back in its place for the January folder and moved on to February. The 2nd month held no answers either and he carefully put it away as well. March was next.

Nothing in the Obituaries. Good news or bad news? He wasn’t sure anymore. The hospital fold was thick, but held no useful information. Finally, the school folder. 

_**Accident Sends British Teen to Hospital** _

His heart stopped. The article was so small he’d nearly missed it. He gripped it tightly, bringing his face close to read it carefully.

_An accident at South Park High Monday morning sends British Teen, Phillip Pirrup, to Hells Pass Hospital in critical condition. A block of ice fell from the roof of the school building and collided with Pirrup’s head, knocking him unconscious. Witnesses to the event claim it to have been a freak accident, stating that Pirrup was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time._

He growled at the short article and put it aside, going back to digging for more. There _had_ to be more. This was a tiny town, these people would write about and gossip over _anything_!

He found one small mention of it that stated Pip was in critical condition and still hadn’t gained consciousness again, but nothing more.

He let out a frustrated yell and almost threw the papers across the room, but refrained. He carefully put them away instead and quickly left the library, no closer to an answer than when he’d broken in. It felt like one big conspiracy against him. In Denver, people thrived on talking about freaky shit that happened around town, especially in school, but here it was like even a mention of Pip was completely taboo.

No one was talking and it had to be for reasons other than Cartman’s guilt.

\----------

The buzzing of his alarm stirred Damien from his slumber. He sat up and looked at his clock in confusion for a moment before it dawned on him that it was Monday morning and school would be starting soon.

He hadn’t seen Pip last night though.

The realization hit him hard, made his chest clench and his stomach fill with dread. It felt like part of himself had been torn away. Did this mean he was never going to see his lover again?

No. No he’d find a way. He still had questions that needed answers and he knew who he was going to grill for them.

\----------

The cafeteria was bustling with students going on about their day like they weren’t hiding some dirty fucking secret. Okay, most of them probably weren’t, but Damien knew a select few that most definitely _were_.

He skipped the line, not really feeling up to eating despite skipping breakfast too, and headed straight for his table instead. He knew he wasn’t going to get anything from the group there, but from a certain someone at the opposite table instead.

Except, the person he was looking for didn’t seem to be there.

“Where’s Kenny?” He asked the occupants. Stan and Kyle turned to him, casting him knowing looks. Cartman pointed over his shoulder, “He and Butters aren’t eating with us anymore, apparently.”

Damien looked in the direction he was gesturing and found the two blondes at a table by themselves in the corner, talking as they ate. “Thanks.” He muttered as he walked past and headed toward them.

He took a seat across from Kenny and folded his arms on the table, face its usual blank slate.

Both boys looked at him in slight surprise.

“You look awful.” Butters piped up, concern written in his pretty features.

“Gee, _thanks_.” Damien sneered.

“Hey, no need to get shitty. He was trying to be nice.” Kenny growled, “The Hell do you want anyway?”

“ _Answers_.” Damien snapped, “I tried the library yesterday, but they only had one fucking article over Pip. Said some falling ice hit him.”

Both looked away, obviously uncomfortable with this subject.

“I talked to Cartman Friday though. Turns out it wasn’t an accident, was it?” Damien continued, giving Kenny a glare, “I fucked up though. Remember how I told you I saw him in my dreams? Well, I tried bringing up the subject, he freaked out and booted me out, and last night I didn’t see him again.”

“You probably won’t.” Kenny said solemnly, “That’s what happened to me…”

There was a short pause in which Damien swallowed roughly before continuing, “So, you’ve seen him then?”

Kenny looked at him and nodded slowly, “Yeah. Woke up in a forest. He was there, but he didn’t remember me. I tried… Asking him about what happened, if he was okay, where we were. He didn’t understand, of course, and when I tried telling him about it… The whole world like, flickered, or something.”

“Yes, exactly!” Damien felt his hopes growing.

“Then it went dark and I haven’t seen him since. That was the night after the incident.”

Damien lightly bit the inside of his lip. Shit, that was a long time. “Do you know…?” He wasn’t sure what he was trying to ask, “…Anything…? Where he is? Dead or alive? Anything?”

Kenny shook his head, “No. Wasn’t a funeral. His parents are dead, killed by an animal attack back in England, I know that, so they weren’t around to get info from. He was an orphan, so I tried asking at the adoption agency in town, but they can’t keep track of their fucking kids so that was a dead end. Tried the hospital too, but I wasn’t family so they turned me away. I have… no idea what happened to him…” 

“You were close then?” He couldn’t say he wasn’t at least a little jealous. It probably wasn’t healthy to want Pip all to himself. He should be happy that Pip had friends, not over protective.

Kenny nodded, “Yeah…” He sighed softly and looked at Butters, who smiled.

“Go ahead. You know it doesn’t bother me.” He reassured.

Kenny nodded again, slowly, and turned back to Damien, but his eyes fell to the table, “I don’t even know where to start…” He let out a heavier sigh and rubbed at his face; a sure sign of anxiety, “Pip wasn’t normal. It was bad enough that he was British, and he was bullied hard for that his whole time here, since like the 3rd grade I think, but around Freshman year of high school it became more obvious that he was… Gifted, I guess, is the best word, but some people wouldn’t call it that.”

“Gifted?”

“Yeah… For one, he was… what’s the word? Telepathic?”

“Telekinetic.” Butters corrected gently.

“Right… He wasn’t very good at it and he couldn’t lift big things, but he could shut his locker and move little stuff around without too much trouble. He was still learning.”

“Wow… Really?” Damien wanted to say he could hardly believe it, but the events in the other world made that seem tame.

“Yup. He didn’t really tell anyone but me and Butters about that though. Also, he could see things no one else could. The strings were what he mostly talked about, but before that I found out he could see _other_ things too.”

“Like what?”

“Oh, you know… Dead people.” 

Damien’s eyes widened. He was about to ask for further elaboration, but he didn’t have to.

“See, I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but I have a tendency of dying almost every day.” He had noticed weird absences, actually, and someone had mentioned such a thing, but he’d sort of brushed it off as a weird rumor. “Sometimes I go to Hell, sometimes to Heaven, and sometimes I end up stuck here as a ghost. I usually hang around school and fuck with people until I come back to life, which is exactly what I was doing that day…”

\----------

__ _Dead again, it seemed. Fantastic. This was exactly how he wanted to spend his afternoon. As a lame-ass ghost._

_“Oh my God, they killed Kenny!”_

_“You bastards!”_

_Yeah, thanks guys. Screaming that every time was a real help. Know what would have been better? Preventing the accident in the first place. But, hey, why bother, right??? Mr. Immortal would just be fine again tomorrow!_

_Kenny sighed, shoulders drooping, and shook his head as he turned away from the scene. Someone would be by soon enough to scrape his body off the pavement._

_Road kill again._

_He headed to the school. No sense in going home. Boring there. At least there were people to fuck with at school. He followed a group of students to the building and through the double doors in front and went straight to his locker out of habit. He stood beside it for a while, just watching the world go on without him._

_It was so strange, knowing these people were still going about their day despite his death. Then again, he died all the time. They knew he’d be back, so why cry over it?_

_Butters always cried though, he’d noticed. Not like full-on sobbing, just a few tears and a comment about how he felt bad because it must hurt to die. Indeed it did. Butters was a pretty sweet kid, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should hang out with him more often._

_He spied Craig and Tweek walking by and couldn’t help a smirk. He loved fucking with Tweek. The poor paranoid kid lost his shit so easily and then Craig would scramble to fix it. He didn’t have anything against them, he was merely bored and, hey, he deserved a good laugh after getting hit by some idiot in a van._

_As soon as the duo passed by he quickly threw his fist up, sending Tweeks books into the air and making him scream in pure terror._

_“Tweek!! Calm down!! You just dropped your books!!” Craig immediately began scrambling to pick them up as Tweek continued to wail._

_“Noooo! S-something knocked them outta my hand, man! God, I can’t even handle this!!”_

_“Calm down, calm down! You’re fine!”_

_Kenny howled with laughter as the two frantically tried to recover._

_“Well, that wasn’t very nice.” Came a distinctly British voice._

_Kenny’s laughter ceased and he turned to come face-to-face with an unhappy blonde._

_Pip hugged his books against his chest and gave Kenny a bit of a pout, “I thought he was your friend?”_

_“You can see me?” Kenny asked, eyes wide with shock._

_Pip gave him a confused look for a brief moment, before his eyes widened with realization and horror. He bolted, disappearing into the crowded hall._

_“Wait!” Kenny called, taking chase, “How can you see me?!” He followed Pip through the crowd and out a back door._

_Pip stopped by the dumpster and turned to face him, worry in his features, “I didn’t know you were dead. I wouldn’t have spoken to you had I known.”_

_“So you can always see me, then, yeah?” Kenny asked as he stopped just a few feet from him._

_Pip nodded, “Yeah, but I usually hear about your death, so I don’t talk to you.”_

_“Why not???”_

_“I didn’t need you knowing I see dead people too! You lot already pick on me enough.”_

_“So you see others too??”_

_“Yeah, sort of…” Pip shuffled a bit on his feet, “I can’t see them very clearly, I just sort of know that they’re there. The younger the ghost the easier they are to see. I can always see you clearly because you’ve always just died.”_

_“Wow, cool.” Kenny grinned, “What else can you see?”_

_Pip grimaced and sighed, “I don’t think I should tell you these things. You’re just going to tell your friends and-”_

_“I won’t, I swear!” Kenny persisted, “This is like our little secret. No one knows I come back as a ghost sometimes and I wanna keep it that way, so you don’t tell and I won’t okay?”_

_Pip seemed unsure, but eventually agreed, “Okay. Fine. I think I can see into another realm, to an extent.”_

_“Another realm??”_

_“Yeah… Almost like a different plane of reality. Or maybe I can just see what’s supposed to be invisible? It’s hard to explain… Have you ever heard of the red string of fate?”_

_“The one that’s supposed to connect soul mates or something?”_

_“Yes.” Pip nodded, “They’re real. I see them. I see everyone’s. They’re connected to pinky fingers.”_

_“Really? Sweet. Who’s mine connected to?”_

_“Well, I can’t tell unless I see who the string leads to, but…” Pip grinned some, “Yours_ is _connected to someone here.”_

_“Who, who??”_

_“I can’t tell you that!” Pip huffed, “It’s supposed to be a secret that you find on your own! If I tell you, you might not like the answer and it could really screw it up!”_

_“Uuuuuuuugh. Fiiiiine.” Kenny rolled his eyes, “But I bet I can get it out of you before we graduate.”_

_“Sure.” Pip shook his head, chuckling softly, “I’ll let you believe that. I need to get to class though. Some of us aren’t dead and have obligations.”_

_“Yeah, yeah. Alright. Hey, we should hang out again sometime, okay? And not just when I’m dead.”_

_“Oh, uh, okay?” Pip shrugged, seemingly unsure, “If that’s what you really want.”_

_“Definitely. You’re pretty neat, for a Brit.”_

_“Thanks, I guess.” Another small grin, “I’ll see you around.”_

_“See you.”_

\----------

“We became friends after that and got pretty close after a couple years, like siblings. I tried dating him, actually, but he always refused, saying that we weren’t connected, weren’t meant to be, so what was the point. We stayed really good friends and I even got the other guys to come around too and accept him into the group. All except Cartman… Fatso couldn’t stand him. I should have known that… Shoulda been more careful…”

Butters put his hand on his boyfriend’s shoulder, offering a comforting smile, “It wasn’t your fault, Kenny.”

“Yes, it _was_.” Kenny gasped, becoming distraught, “I should have fucking _known_ better!” His hands flew into his hair, tugging in distress.

“What happened??” Damien pressed, leaning closer.

Kenny sighed and let his hands fall to the table again. He began wringing them as he searched for his words, “Well, later that year it ended up coming out that he could see the strings. He outed himself to try to help someone with their love-life. People took it weirdly, of course, so I backed him up. That’s not really important. Last year, March, Cartman called me up on Friday and told me he felt bad about how he’d treated Pip that week and he had a gift for him to make up for it. I didn’t believe him at first, of course, but he’s ridiculously convincing. He said it wasn’t really school appropriate, but Pip would like it, so he wanted to meet out back so teachers wouldn’t see and no one would get in trouble. I dunno, I guess I wanted Pip to be accepted so badly that I just fucking went with it. In my mind, if it was a lie, really how bad could it end up being anyway? He’d do something shitty, I’d punch him, we’d move on.” He let out a wavering sigh, “I was so wrong.”

Butters rubbed his boyfriend’s back comfortingly, silently asking him to continue.

Kenny took a deep breath, “Right, so… Monday rolls around and I’m getting suspicious again, so I get people to come with us. Craig, Tweek, Token, Bebe, Wendy, Clyde, Stan, Kyle, and Butters” -he smiled at his boyfriend-“Whom I was dating by that point. I knew we were soul mates by the look on Pip’s face when I told him we got together. He was so excited. Um, anyway… So I get this group together and we all head to the back by the dumpsters. We’re hanging out, waiting for that fat prick to show… I honestly don’t remember a lot about what happened. I guess I kind of blocked it out. But I remember something falling from the sky and Pip’s body jolts and falls to the ground. Everyone’s yelling and there’s blood.” His voice grew thick with emotion, “I was on the ground with him, trying to stop the bleeding, and someone yells ‘Cartman’ and I just fucking _knew_ what happened. Turned out that fat prick was gonna dump water on Pip, but he sat the bucket and everything up on Friday and it froze over the weekend. It fucking _froze_. He didn’t even mean to hurt Pip that badly, it just _happened_. I should’ve… I should’ve refused the invitation and he’d still be here… It’s _my_ fault…”

Butters grabbed Kenny’s hands, squeezing them tightly, “No, hun, it’s not. You were hoping to do something nice for him. It’s _Cartman’s_ fault, not yours.” He kissed his cheek and rested his head on his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you turn him in?” Damien asked.

“Couldn’t. Woulda got the rest of us in trouble for leading Pip there in the first place. Most of us bullied him his whole life. How would that look to the police?”

Silence fell. Damien knew he was right. He couldn’t turn Cartman in without risking his own jail time. None of them could. “That sucks…”

“Yeah… You’re telling me… I’ve had to live with it for months and it’s fucking killing me…”

“Then let’s keep searching!” Damien persisted, “Let’s go back to the hospital. It’s been long enough, surely they’ll have to tell us something!”

“You think?” Kenny looked at him wearily, but there was the smallest glimmer of hope in his brown eyes.

“Yeah, I’m sure of it. Mom’s a lawyer.”

“Alright…” He nodded, “After school. We’ll go straight to Hells Pass Hospital.”


	5. Sleep

The car came out of seemingly nowhere, screaming through the crosswalk with no regard to the red light above. Damien couldn’t even think quick enough to react, but Kenny did. With almost inhuman force he shoved his two companions forward and out of the deadly path, leaving only himself. 

It was over in the blink of an eye. Kenny’s body went tumbling over the hood of the car, smashing the windshield and no doubt his bones. He hit the concrete with a sickening thud and lay motionless while the car screamed to a halt.

Butter was the first to get off the ground and run over to the bloody scene. He pulled out a cellphone and dialed someone as he took a seat beside his fallen lover.

Damien scrambled to his feet behind him and walked over in a slight daze, completely stunned by what was just transpired. “I- Is he?”

“Yeah.” Butters sighed, “Should have expected it. It’s been three days since his last death.”

Damien had nothing to say to that. Part of him hadn’t fully believed Kenny’s death story, but Butter’s seemed very calm about this, so it had to be true. “Who’re you calling?”

“Dr. Mephesto. He always comes to pick up the body and keep it safe til Kenny comes back. He’s been keeping track of deaths too. They’re slowing, so that’s good news… Oh! Hello, Dr. Mephesto… Yes… It was a car again… Main street by the coffee shop…. Tweaks… Yes. Yes, thanks.” He hung up and smiled sadly at Damien, “He’s on his way.”

Damien sighed and crouched beside him, “What do we do until he gets here?”

“Nothing. Traffic will go around, this is commonplace by now. We just wait. Well, I will. You should get to the hospital.”

“Are you sure?” He didn’t really want to just abandon the kid with his dead lover.

Butters nodded, “Yeah. I’m used to this, so I’ll be fine. You’ll probably have a better chance of finding something out if you’re on your own anyway. Groups are too noticeable, draw too much attention.”

Damien hesitated a moment before straightening, “Alright. I’ll let you know if I find anything.” He took a few steps backward before turning away from the scene.

“Good luck.” Butters called as he left.

Damien put the scene behind him, concentrating instead on the hospital in the distance. It was a little unnerving how people around him seemed to be going about their day as if someone hadn’t just been fucking killed twenty feet away. Apparently everyone had gotten used to Kenny’s deaths.

The hospital was oddly empty out front. Maybe small towns just didn’t have as many emergencies as bigger cities? He shrugged it off and headed inside, which was also sparsely populated. There were nurses wondering about, but the waiting room wasn’t full. Only a few people sat in the uncomfortable looking chairs, flipping through old magazines as they waited to see a doctor or nurse for their ailments. 

Damien stepped up to the counter where a heavy-set man with a big frown sat. “Can I help you?” His voice didn’t sound angry or bored, so maybe he just had a sour resting face.

“Hi, I’m looking for a patient?” Damien put on his best innocent act, which was probably very shitty. He just didn’t have that ‘poor me I’m lost and confused please help’ kind of face.

“Name?”

“Phillip Pirrup. I’m a cousin on his mom’s side.” He was probably saying too much. It was going to look like he was lying, damnit!

The man clicked away on a computer with lightning precision despite his large fingers. After a few moments he grabbed some sort of yellow ID card and handed it to Damien. “Visitor” was in bold red on the front. 

Wow, so fancy. 

_Not_.

“Phillip Pirrup is on the 4th floor, room 475.”

“Really?” A smile formed before he could stop it, “I can talk to him?”

“You can try, but he won’t say much back. He’s been in a coma since the day he arrived.”

“Oh.” The news wasn’t stunning, actually. It had been amazing just to find he was _here_ , he was _alive_. It was a good start, damnit. “Thank you.” He quickly excused himself and found an elevator. He seemed to take an eternity for it to open, then close again. He groaned under his breath and bounced his knee impatiently as they ever so slowly closed.

The elevator lurched and slowly moved. Christ, this was the worst. He already hated waiting, but combining this with the anxiety over what was awaiting him just made it so much worse. Jesus fucking Christ could this elevator move any _goddamn **slower**_?!

He was on the verge of madness when it **finally** stopped and dinged at the fourth floor. The doors slid open like the gates of fucking Heaven and he practically threw himself out and into the hallway. The smell of bleach was heavy, making it a little tough to breathe until he got used to it.

He found a sign directing him to the right for rooms 450-500. A long stretch of hall lay out before him and he didn’t hesitate to begin the long walk. He passed open rooms with patients and TVs and nurses and radios filling the hall with an orchestra of sounds. It was kind of comforting, actually. Hospitals were a little creepy, so it was nice that it wasn’t totally silent.

Another split. Rooms 450-475 to the left, 476-500 to the right. He made a left, then had to make another within several feet. Room 475 was on his immediate right after that and just seeing its closed door made his heart lurch.

Anxiety ate at him as he swallowed roughly. He checked the door, unlocked, and with sweaty palms pushed the handle down and opened it. 

A certain heaviness seemed to weigh down on him, but he chalked it up to nerves. The inside of the room was just the same as all the others; white, sterilized, but open and comforting in a really weird way. There was a bathroom to his left with a large shower in it and a low-seated toilet, while a curtain divided off the small entryway and a larger space with a bed and chairs. He stepped past the curtain and swore his heart stopped for a moment, breath leaving him, blood running cold, when his eyes landed on the person in bed.

A pretty blonde boy lay in a bed that seemed a bit too big for him, his long blonde hair barely touching his shoulders and edges curling in to gently caress his pink cheeks. Damien knew blue eyes as light as the sky lay behind closed eyelids where long blonde lashes rested delicately. No mask covered the cute little nose or those perfect pink lips, but IVs disappeared into the pale skin on his arms.

“Pip.” Damien breathed as he shakily made his way to the side of the bed. He had to grab one of the bumpers on the side to steady himself as he leaned closer, inspecting that flawless face. One, two, three, four… Yes. Six freckles dotted soft cheeks, just like he’d memorized. He reached out hesitantly to touch the lovely face, almost afraid that it would shatter underneath his hands, as if this were some sort of fucked up dream.

It wasn’t. The skin was soft and smooth and warm and he felt himself becoming a little choked up. “ _Pip_.” He gasped as his chest became tight from emotion. His legs didn’t feel right, so he let himself fall into a nearby chair and scoot close to his lover. He stroked his face and hair and reached down to gently grip one of his small hands, which were merely laying lifeless by his sides. Pip looked to be asleep, but Damien knew it was not the case.

Coma.

Fuck, how was he even supposed to fix that? You didn’t just wake up from a coma like you did from sleeping. People couldn’t wake you. It just happened on its own eventually. Could take hours, days, weeks, _years_ with no way of predicting. 

Waiting was not something he really wanted to do…

“Excuse me?” A soft, feminine voice nearly made him jump out of his skin. He turned with wide-eyes to a young, brunette nurse giving him a confused and annoyed look at the end of the bed. “How did you get in here?”

“Uhh… I’m Pip’s cousin on his mother’s side. Someone downstairs let me up.” He held up his visitor's pass.

She gave him a look that clearly stated she knew he was bullshitting, “Not much of an accent on you.”

“I… My family moved to America after I was born.”

“Uh-huh. You need to leave, sir.”

“No, please.” Damien gripped Pip’s hand tighter, “I need to see him. I just have to.”

She sighed and her whole demeanor seemed to change. She glanced past the curtain before gently sliding it closed a little more. “Alright.” Her voice was quieter, “Just don’t cause any trouble and don’t tell them I let you stay. He’s not supposed to have any visitors.”

“Why not?” Damien asked, “Don’t they usually let coma patients have visitors?”

She looked at him for several moments as though she was unsure of what she was about to say. “Well…” She said eventually, “He’s not really in a coma, exactly. As far as we can tell, he’s just asleep, but he won’t wake up and no one can wake him. So, it looks like a coma, but the readings aren’t right. It’s very odd.”

“Wow, that’s really weird…” He looked down at the pretty blonde, “That’s why people can’t come in?” That seemed like a stupid reason.

“No…” She cringed some and reached down to pick up a TV remote. For the first time, Damien realized the TV had been on. He’d become so used to tuning The Noise out, he often did it to TVs now. “Watch this.” She clicked a button shutting off the electronic box. Not a second later it blinked right back on, hardly missing a beat. She repeated the action a few more times, getting the same result. “We’ve tried unplugging it, but the plug is literally sealed to the wall. It only turns off at night and the radio comes on instead.” She gestured to a radio on a nearby table, “That stays on the entire night. Can’t turn it off, can’t switch stations -does that on its own- and can’t unplug it.” She put the remote down, “You can feel the heaviness in here, right? It’s coming from him. We don’t know why or how, but a lot of the staff are scared of him, like he’s dangerous, so the door is kept shut, no visitors, and only a few of us who aren’t scared come in to check on him.”

“Wow…” He seemed to be saying that a lot lately. Dark eyes turned back to the pretty blonde and he gently grabbed his other hand, holding both tightly. He felt helpless. It was obvious Pip had a lot of power, but he seemed so powerless, unable to wake up.

“So, how do you _actually_ know him?” She asked, smiling knowingly.

“Uh… He talks to me in my dreams.” Might as well, right? She already knew none of this was normal.

“Oh.” She hardly faltered, unsurprisingly, “Did he tell you how to wake him up?”

“No. He doesn’t even know he’s asleep.”

“Oh…” Her face fell, “That’s so sad….” She looked at the door, “I have to go take care of other patients. I’ll close the door so you won’t be bothered, but… Be careful, okay? I’m not afraid of him, but I don’t know what he can do either.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be fine. Thanks.” He offered a small smile, which she returned before leaving. He heard the door click shut and once again he found himself staring longingly down at the object of his affections.

His Pip.

“Wake up.” He commanded rather gently, “Please, Pip, I need you _here_. I need you with _me_. I love you so much.” He sighed shakily and laid his head down on the bed, staring into space. He was at a loss, completely unsure of what to do. He had a feeling they’d tried yelling and screaming and shaking him. Obviously, that was unsuccessful.

His eyes slipped shut. He’d gotten some sleep last night, but it just wasn’t restful. The heaviness in the room was weirdly comforting too and seemed to lull him into a state of calm. He kept a firm grip on Pip’s hand even as he lost consciousness.

\----------

What should have been green seemed to be completely colorless. What was once soft now scratched at his skin roughly and where there should have been noise was silence. Everything was silent, everything was still.

A dead world.

Damien stood, looking around in silent horror. This was not the world he wanted to wake in. Where was his lover? Where even was he? It looked like the place he usually woke, but… Different.

He looked down at the ground and found the grass dead and grey under his feet. There was no color in this world, save for one.

Red.

He lifted his hand and stared his shock at the glaring red string around his pinky finger. It led to the ground and made a loose trail through the rotting grass in the opposite direction of the river.

Toward the cabin.

He swallowed roughly and gathered himself, prepared to take this journey. He followed the string through the greyscale wilderness and was amazed to find that it seemed to shrink to match his distance, rather than leaving a long trail behind him as well.

Before he knew it he was standing at a familiar white fence and looking into a dead yard. He passed through the gate and headed to the porch without hesitation, following the string right through the front door.

There were no bloody bodies this time, though he was momentarily startled and horrified to find Pip on the floor where his mother had been, both legs resting on the couch and face toward the ceiling. Pip turned his head to look at him when he came in, so he wasn’t dead.

Pip looked completely drained though; worn, tired, sad, distant. He said nothing, merely went back to staring at the ceiling.

“Pip…” Damien sighed in relief as he stepped on inside and took a seat on the floor beside Pip, “I missed you.”

Pip merely hummed, unmoving.

Damien reached out and placed a hand on Pip’s stomach, “I love you…”

“I love you too.” Came his soft reply, followed by a small whimper, “I… I don’t even know what’s real anymore and what isn’t.”

“ _I’m_ real. Focus on me.”

Another small whimper. Pip pulled his legs off the couch and sat up so he could shift himself and lay down in Damien’s lap instead. “I want more than anything for you to be real.”

“I am, I swear it.” He stroked his lover’s hair, “You’re asleep, Pip. You need to wake up.”

“Noo…!” He whined, “I don’t like it there. I want to stay here. I’m safe here.”

“But I can’t be with you all the time here. I _can’t_ spend my life here. Wouldn’t you rather be with me?”

“Why can’t you though?? We can do whatever we want here! It’s _better_ here!”

“I know, I know, but… There’s so many things I want to do in the real world. So many things to experience. I want to experience them with _you_.”

“Why can’t you experience them _here_??”

“Because this isn’t _real_ , Pip! This is just a world you created so you didn’t have to face _reality_!”

“Don’t yell at me!” Pip sat up, furious glare maring his pretty features, “You didn’t have to go through what I did! You wouldn’t want to go back there either if you had! So shut up!”

The outburst silenced Damien. He didn’t know what to say to that. Pip was right, in a way, but it wasn’t okay to run from your problems. “You had friends.”

“I had _one_ friend. _Two_ at best.”

“Don’t they matter? What happened to you wasn’t Kenny’s fault, but he’s tearing himself apart over it. He thinks you’re dead. Don’t you want to see him? To tell him you’re okay?”

It was Pip’s turn to hesitate this time. He eventually shook his head, “You can tell him.”

“No! You need to do it!”

“Well I don’t want to!”

“Too bad!”

“I don’t want to go back there, Damien. I hate it there. They _hurt_ me, Damien. I don’t want to go back to that.”

“They won’t hurt you, I won’t let them. You’re not alone anymore, Pip.” He grabbed his lover’s hand, “I’m here. Soul mates, remember? Together forever. I won’t let anyone hurt you anymore.”

Pip stared at their hands silently, conflicted look on his features.

Damien continued, “ _Please_ , Pip. Don’t make me live my life without you, my soul mate. We’re meant to be, but it can’t happen if you don’t wake up.”

The tears began to form then and it was obvious this was a tough decision. “What if I wake up but I don’t remember you? Or I can’t get back here? Or I actually get killed?”

“We’ll never know if we don’t try. Those are risks that we have to take.”

Pip shook his head and crawled into Damien’s lap, “Hold me.”

“Of course.” He hugged him tightly and buried his face in soft blonde hair. He could feel him trembling.

The decision should have been obvious in Damien’s opinion. But, Pip was right, he hadn’t experienced the things he had. It was safe here and they were free to do literally anything they pleased. But, it all seemed so hollow without risk or random events or other people or the possibility of failure or reward. The real world was scary, but it was just that; _real_.

Pip sat up after a moment and laced their hands together lovingly, “I’m an orphan. I hate the orphanage. Where will I stay?”

“With me. My parents can shove it. The orphanage won’t even notice anyway.”

“What about school?”

“You can just redo a grade. I bet they’ll let you come back in January and finish your previous year.”

Pip was silent awhile before slowly nodding, “Okay…. I’ll try to wake up. So we can be together.”

Damien smiled brightly and pulled him into another hug, “Thank you! You don’t know how much it means to me. I love you so much, Pip. I want to spend every waking moment with you.”

Pip hugged him back just as tightly, “I love you too, Damien.”

Damien jolted awake and quickly sat up. He was confused for a moment before remembering that he was in the hospital. How long had he been out? He wasn’t sure, but the nurse hadn’t returned as far as he knew, so probably not long. The heaviness in the room was gone too.

His eyes fell on his beloved’s peaceful face. He silently willed him to twitch, blink, move, something. He squeezed the hand he still had a hold on and watched him closely.

_Please…_

Eyelids flickered, drawing a gasp from Damien. A pretty face scrunched slightly before brilliant blue eyes opened. They looked around in confusion before landing on Damien. “Where am I?” His voice was rough from going unused for so long.

“You’re in the hospital.” Damien explained gently, “You had an accident.” He had no idea how much Pip remembered or if it would come back to him, but he didn’t want to risk pushing. Best to just answer questions and assume he knew nothing.

“An accident? Oh, dear.” He lifted his hands, which Damien had to let go of, and rubbed his face, “Well, I can’t stay. I have a test tomorrow I have to study for.” He sat up with some effort, but Damien was quick to push him back down.

“No, you can’t do that. You need to relax. There’s no test tomorrow, Pip.”

“What? Why not? Was it canceled?”

“No, no… You were in a coma. It’s October.”

Pip stared at him in shock, then horror, then he seemed to gather himself and calm down some, “Oh, my… Okay… Well, there goes my perfect attendance record… Oh, dear.”

Damien couldn’t help a small laugh. Figures Pip would be the type to put school above all else.

Blue eyes fell on him again, “Who’re you anyway? You’re not dressed like a nurse or doctor.”

“Um… I’m… A friend from school.” It hurt to realize Pip didn’t remember him. But, they could rebuild. As long as Pip could see the string they would certainly be together.

“Oh, you must be new.” Pip noted, nodding some. His cheeks tinted pink in a blush, “This is going to sound so weird, but I had the strangest dream, and I’m so sure I saw you in it.”

Damien couldn’t help a smile, “Does that make me your dream guy?”

Pip gasped and flushed in embarrassment, an adorable sight. His eyes fell to their hands, likely looking for the strings in an attempt to comfort himself. Damien was quick to reach out and grasp his hands again, hoping maybe Pip would understand that he _knew_ they were connected, _knew_ they were meant to be. Blue eyes searched for a moment before another soft gasp escaped him and he looked at Damien in wonder, curiosity, and confusion, searching his features for something. Damien offered a hopeful smile, silently begging his lover to remember something, anything.

There was a long silence before Damien saw it. A sudden spark in Pip’s eyes just before he gasped as though he were coming up for air after a long dive, followed by a desperate shout, “ _Damien_!” The single word was enough to make Damien lurch forward and wrap him in a tight, desperate embrace. Pip hugged him back just as desperately, clinging to him for dear life, “I love you so much!”

“I love you too, baby, so much.”

They held each other for what seemed like an eternity and likely would have continued to do so even longer if the nurse hadn’t come back in. A sharp gasp finally made them part just before she ran out the door calling for a doctor.

Damien smiled softly at his lover, “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah.” Pip nodded, “I’ll be even better when I get out of here though… I’m still staying with you, right?”

“Of course.” Damien pecked his cheek.

“Good.” Pip smiled brightly, “I can’t wait to meet your parents.”

Damien merely hummed, looking over a beautifully familiar face and silently making adjustments to his future plans, allowing plenty of room for one Phillip Pirrup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! It's funny how much longer my fics tend to be nowadays compared to how they used to. This fic was broken into ten chapters before I edited it. They were so short!! Anyway though I hope you enjoyed. See you next time!


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